Pune-based ClassBoat helps you find instructors for all your hobbies

The startup currently lists more than 250 activities across areas such as dance, art, film, sports and technologyJ Vignesh | ET Bureau | November 11, 2016, 09:46 IST

Sapna Hosmath, a corporate behavioural skills trainer, moved to Pune from Bengaluru in June. She wanted to enroll her five-year-old son to a keyboard class, but had no idea who to approach. While she was searching the Internet, Hosmath came across ClassBoat's website, where she found a keyboard teacher for her son, as well as a guitar instructor for herself.

Pune-based ClassBoat, a marketplace of course providers and individual instructors, came about last year when husband-wife duo Chaitanya Salgarkar and Renu Salgarkar wanted to join hobby classes, but did not know any trusted source to find good instructors.

"Almost for 14 years, myself and Renu, we were working abroad. When we returned to India, we wanted to join classes ourselves. We did not know which one to join. It is a very unorganised market. There are a lot of options, but people do not know which is a good one to go," said chief executive Chaitanya Salgarkar.

The startup currently lists more than 250 activities across areas such as dance, art, film, sports and technology. "We help class providers fill empty seats. Users can get free trials and then book sessions at discounted prices. We generate around 7,000-8,000 leads every month," he said.

The duo set about aggregating instructors on their own at first and now has a dedicated team to visit potential instructors and list them on their platform. "Their leads are genuine. They have maintained all the promises that they have told me. Since their leads are genuine, the conversion will keep happening," said Abhishek Mantri, a professional disc jockey, who is listed on ClassBoat's platform.

The startup generates revenue on a lead-based model, wherein the instructors pay the platform depending on the number of potential customers they gain out of it. ClassBoat, which has already raised money from a few angel investors and Edugild, an education technology accelerator, is in the process of raising its Series A round.

"The founders are extremely mature. They came with international experience, they have worked in many foreign countries. Their technology and business understanding is really good," said Rishi Kapal, CEO of Edugild.

The startup will soon begin operations in Ahmedabad and Mumbai and is also looking to aggregate instructors across more sectors in the near future.